SSO - A Strange Encounter
by Centeris2
Summary: A Star Stable Online fanfic. Features Raptor (NPC) and the character I play, Rebecca Lightknight. May spin off into a longer story, but works as a stand alone fic. While working around Jarlaheim, Rebecca runs into an odd fellow with green facial hair.


"I heard the new mall will be opening soon!"

"Oh same! I can't wait for the Jorvik Plaza to finally open!"

"It's supposed to be three stories tall!"

"Not to mention there is supposed to be concerts at the mall for a week to celebrate!" Rebecca wasn't paying much attention to the girls talking in the center of Jarlaheim by the fountain. She was preoccupied changing the light bulbs in the lamps that had burnt out. What sort of crappy lights did this city buy? She was replacing them every few days, it was ridiculous.

"Easy…" she said to Midnightwarrior to keep him from moving. The horse snorted and stood as still as he could while he rider carefully bent down. One would think they would at least give her a ladder to reach the light bulbs, but no, she stood on top of her horse to reach the bulbs. It was probably not the safest way to do it, but she had been doing this for weeks now and had long since lost her fear.

Sitting back in the saddle properly she nudged Midnightwarrior toward the southern stairs, no doubt some of the lamps in the smoky lower level were busted. The blond always wondered what had happened in this area and what caused the smog and why it seemed to abandoned. It seemed like half of the city was empty with all the boarded up stores and windows. She looked up and sure enough saw a busted lamp. After retrieving a fresh light from her bag she stood on top of her Jorvik warmblood again and ignored the looks of anyone nearby. This area of town was normally empty, and the only person she could see out of the corner of her eye was a man her age or a few years older. But her main focus was on screwing the new light bulb in.

"HEY-!" she yelped when a cat darted out in front of Midnightwarrior, causing him to spook and her to latch onto the lamppost so she wouldn't crash to the ground.

"Yo ya a'ight?" she looked at the man who had watched her; he had taken a few steps closer and was looking up at her with concern. Midnightwarrior nudged her and she looked down at her horse with a smile.

"I'm fine," she said more to her horse than to the man, but spoke loud enough for the guy to hear. She slid down the pole and looked at the broken glass from the bulb she had dropped. Glad she was wearing gloves, she picked up all the pieces she could and put them in the nearest public trash bin.

"Can I help you?" she asked the man who was still watching her. Giving him a more thorough look she noticed his goat patch was green. This may have been considered odd, but the salons in Jorvik had a rainbow of colors one could dye their hair. The amount of work required in constantly redying facial hair did make it seem strange to her that someone would choose to do that. He must need to get the color corrected on a nearly daily basis.

"I'm comin' back to my roots, ya know?" was his answer to her question and she nodded once, not sure what to say. Should she strike up a conversation with this guy? He was looking at her oddly, as though he was expecting her to do something.

"You grew up around here?" she asked politely, patting Midnightwarrior when the dark horse nudged her arm as though to double-check that his human was fine.

"Yeah dawg, born and raised on the harsh side of Jorvik. I keep it real, ya know? Never forget where I started," he had a habit of gesticulating and all Rebecca could thing of was someone into rap, or maybe punk.

"I… guess? Well, it was a pleasure to meet you, but I need to finish helping Gavin with the street lights," Rebecca said as she mounted her horse and took the reins.

"You helping this city out?"

"I try to, not sure how much I can do besides maintenance; this particular area looks like it needs more than some new light bulbs…" she glanced around at the broken down stores. She could check fire hydrants and change light bulbs, but she couldn't give the economy a boost and start new flourishing businesses here.

"I respect that. Now keep this convo on the down low."

"Umm, alright? Good bye!" she raised an eyebrow at his request, wondering why he wanted her to not tell anyone she had seen him. Was he some famous person or something? She didn't recognize him. Midnightwarrior started walking, heading toward the East Gates.

"Come by the mall and see the show, starting next week!" the man called to her and she realized she never told him her name, but she didn't get his name either.

Midnightwarrior tossed his head back, trying to touch her leg with his muzzle as he walked and she laughed, patting her horse.

"I know, you're sorry you spooked. Happens to the best of us sweetie," she comforted her horse, knowing he felt guilt for letting her fall. With that she totally forgot about the man she had just met as she returned to her task of replacing the light bulbs in the city. She should talk to Jill about getting better quality lights, this must be costing the city a fortune.


End file.
